Sheet flow water rides, such as described more fully in application Ser. No. 07/722,980, have recently been hailed as the new generation of simulated wave generating water rides. Initially, the sheet flow generator was designed to simulate existing natural waves and phenomenons, such as a tunnel wave, which is highly prized by surfers.
Generally, sheet wave generators inject water onto a containerless inclined surface upon which surfing maneuvers could be performed. The inclined surface is containerless so that the supercritical flow of water will not be slowed down along the side of the incline. The water flowing from the inclined surface is collected in supplementary pools or moats and then recirculated back through a channel to an elevated container from which the water is extruded back onto the incline.
One disadvantage of previous contained and containerless sheet wave generator systems is that they required a substantially large area of land which can be scarce and costly to provide. Moreover, previous sheet wave generators often required separate pools and elevated containers for storing water for use in operating the sheet wave generating device. Elevated containers are not only costly to build, but in the case of a contained inclined surface, water is predisposed to undesirably flood the lower inclined container during the start-up and shut-down phases. Furthermore, the design of the previous prior art inclined containers were disadvantageously inflexible in their ability to self-clear water during operation (e.g., in the event of rider induced decay). Also, due to the need for water to flow over the incline, variable size wave shapes for differing levels of rider expertise could not be provided. There is, therefore, a need for a more compact sheet wave generating water ride design which overcomes the disadvantages of prior inclined containers, and yet, provides the thrill of simulated water skimming activities.